Major Works

• Politics

  - Aristotle: The Politics. trans. Carnes Lord, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984
  First lines: “Every state is a community of some kind, and every community is established with a view to some good; for mankind always act in order to obtain that which they think good. But, if all communities aim at some good, the state or political… More

Commentary

• Aristotle

  - Jaffa, Harry. "Aristotle." In Strauss, Leo, and Joseph Cropsey, eds. History of Political Philosophy. Chicago: Rand MacNally, 1972.
  Excerpt: “The subject of Aristotle’s Politics is the polis or political community. There is no single English word that will translate polis, and to understand why is indispensable to any introduction to Aristotle’s political philosophy. The… More

• Aristotle and Political Responsibility

  - Winthrop, Delba. "Aristotle and Political Responsibility." Political Theory, 3 (4): 406-422 (1975).
  Excerpt: “When citizens take politics seriously, their actions and their unsophisticated explanations of them imply that politics is something on which they, as rational and moral beings, can have some effect: they make deliberate choices, and such… More

• Aristotle’s Political Theory

  - Mulgan, Richard. Aristotle’s Political Theory. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.
  From Review: “Mulgan  as an article and orderly Van Aristotle himself. He begins with the human good and as with political disorder (no cynicism is intended); in between, the nature of political science, the polis, the household, constitutions, the… More

• Aims and Methods in Aristotle’s Politics

  - Rowe, Christopher J. “Aims and Methods in Aristotle’s Politics.” Classical Quarterly 27: 159-72, 1977.
  Excerpt: ” This originated in an attempt to come to terms with the problems which arise from the structure of the politics. It is no news to anyone who has the slightest familiarity with the politics that the work reads, to borrow a phrase of… More

• Aristotle and Theories of Justice by Delba Winthrop

  - Winthrop, Delba. "Aristotle and Theories of Justice." American Political Science Review, Vol. 72, No. 4 Dec. 1978.
  Abstract: “Today it is all the rage for political theorists and even philosophers to have theories of justice. Looking back on the history of political thought, we cannot help but notice that not all previous philosophers have taken justice and theories… More

• La Politique d’Aristote: Unité et Fractures

  - Pellegrin, Pierre. “La Politique d’Aristote: Unité et Fractures.” Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Etranger 177: 129-59.

• Antike Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie

  - Gigon, Olof and Michael W. Fischer, eds. Antike Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie. New York: Peter Lang, 1988.

• Aristotle on the Human Good

  - Kraut, R. Aristotle on the Human Good. Princeton: Princeton U. Press, 1991.
  Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, which equates the ultimate end of human life with happiness (eudaimonia),  it is thought by many readers to argue that this highest goal consists in the largest possible aggregate of intrinsic goods. Richard Kraut… More

• A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics

  - Keyt, David, and Fred D. Miller, Jr. eds. A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics. Oxford: Blackwell, 1991.
  Review: “In the past twenty years there has been renewed interest among scholars in Aristotle’s Politics, and A Companion to Aristotle’s “Politics” is a welcome addition to the literature. It consists of 15 essays: 1 first… More

• Citizens and Statesmen: A study of Aristotle’s Politics

  - Nichols, Mary P. Citizens and Statesmen: A study of Aristotle’s Politics. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1992.
  Excerpt: ” In the first two books of the Politics,  Aristotle explores the dual origins of the city. He gives to explanations of why human beings are political animals and why the city is natural. Human beings are political animals, in the 1st place,… More

• Public and Private in Aristotle’s Politics

  - Swanson, J. and D. Corbin. Public and Private in Aristotle’s Politics. Ithaca: Cornell U. Press, 1992.
  Review: “In this work Swanson  set out to challenge modern liberal interpretations of the Politics.  At issue is whether or not Aristotle that here’s to the rigid public/private that emerges, for example, in Hannah Arendt’s decidedly… More

• The Political Dimensions of Aristotle’s Ethics

  - Bodéüs, Richard. The Political Dimensions of Aristotle’s Ethics. Trans. J. E. Garrett. Albany: SUNY press, 1993.
  Excerpt: “The first encounter between [Plato and Aristotle]  probably took place in the year 366 BC. They were Associates, at Athens, in almost constant interaction, until the death of Plato in May 347. However, the master left his imprint forever upon… More

• The Problems of a Political Animal

  - Yack, Bernard. The Problems of a Political Animal. Berkeley: U. of Cal. Press, 1993.
  Excerpt: “The shared sentiments and commitments that constitute a community are often the source of its deepest conflicts. Anyone who has lived in a family rather than merely longed for a home knows that all too well. Strangers may cheat you, but only… More

• Nature, Justice and Rights in Aristotle’s Politics

  - Miller, Fred D., Jr. Nature, Justice and Rights in Aristotle’s Politics. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.
  Review: “Fred Miller’s Nature, Justice and Rights in Aristotle’s Politics  It is an important book. It covers a wide range of topics including what Aristotle means by saying that man is naturally a political animal, Aristotle’s taxonomy… More

• The Politics of Philosophy: A Commentary on Aristotle’s Politics

  - Davis, Michael. The Politics of Philosophy: A commentary on Aristotle’s Politics. Rowman and Littlefield, 1996.
  Excerpt: “One cannot help bringing expectations to Aristotle’s Politics, many of which are unfavorable, not to say hostile. How can someone immersed in the problems of Athens of the 4th century BC and of the polis, a form of government that can… More

• Action and Contemplation: Studies in the Moral and Political Thought of Aristotle

  - Bartlett R, and Collins S. eds Action and Contemplation: Studies in the Moral and Political Thought of Aristotle, Albany: Suny Press, 1999.
  “This book not only contains a set of first-rate essays on Aristotle, but it also supplies the context in which readers can be convinced that Aristotle, after several centuries, is once again relevant and useful. If I were looking for one book that… More

• Aristotle: Political Philosophy

  - Kraut, Richard. Aristotle: Political Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 2002.
  Excerpt: “To understand and assess Aristotle’s contributions to political thought, we must come to terms not only with the treatise whose political content is advertised by its title—the Politics—but also with the work that bears the peculiar… More

• Aristotle and the Rediscovery of Citizenship by Susan Collins

  - Collins, Susan. Aristotle and the Rediscovery of Citizenship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
  Excerpt: “The Aristotelian tradition became almost moribund with the success of modern liberalism and of attacks such as those of Hobbes on the many “absurdities” of the “old Morall Philosophers,” Aristotle chief among them. Yet today… More

• Aristotle’s Teaching in the “Politics” by Thomas Pangle

  - Pangle, Thomas. Aristotle’s Teaching in the “Politics.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013.
  In this work, Thomas Pangle offers a detailed, brilliant interpretation of Aristotle’s Politics, that argues, among other things, that “Aristotle’s public theorizing about political practice is a highly self-conscious form of political… More

Multimedia

• Steven Smith – Intro to Political Philosophy: Aristotle II

  - Smith, Steven B., "Introduction to Political Philosophy," Open Yale Courses, 24 lectures, Fall 2006.
  About the course: This course is intended as an introduction to political philosophy as seen through an examination of some of the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition. Three broad themes that are central to understanding political life… More

• Steven Smith – Intro to Political Philosophy: Aristotle I

  - Smith, Steven B., "Introduction to Political Philosophy," Open Yale Courses, 24 lectures, Fall 2006.
  About the course: This course is intended as an introduction to political philosophy as seen through an examination of some of the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition. Three broad themes that are central to understanding political life… More